Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello!

I am looking to do a science project in the form of a video about the expanding universe.

I am going to cover how Edwin Hubble proved the universe is expanding, and demonstrate its expansion by baking raisin bread. (Yum!)

I am having some trouble figuring out a fun way to show the effects of dark energy and dark matter, though. As you may know, dark energy is the force that permeates throughout the universe and causes the universe to continually expand at an accelerating rate instead falling in on itself, while dark matter is some sort of unknown substance that bends light in between galaxies, and in fact contributes to how galaxies ended up forming.

I thought that dark energy could somehow be demonstrated by an accelerating car, but I think that is a bit of a stretch. As for dark matter, I have no leads. I've done some Googling, and can't find any solid analogies that could be done in a video and are clear enough for the average Joe to understand.

Have you seen or heard of any analogies for these phenomena?

Hi cymi,

Sounds like you’re working on and interesting and creative project.

I did find a couple of dark matter analogies online that may be of interest:

http://www.metamia.com/analogize.php?q=dark+matter

http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictio ... matter.htm

Dark matter has never been directly observed but there is evidence for its existence. So some reasonable analogies might come from normally invisible things that we can detect with other senses. Some examples might be odors, wind, or temperature.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

norman40 wrote:Hi cymi,

Sounds like you’re working on and interesting and creative project.

I did find a couple of dark matter analogies online that may be of interest:

http://www.metamia.com/analogize.php?q=dark+matter

http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictio ... matter.htm

Dark matter has never been directly observed but there is evidence for its existence. So some reasonable analogies might come from normally invisible things that we can detect with other senses. Some examples might be odors, wind, or temperature.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Thank you very much for your reply, norman40!

I have some awesome ideas for the man/woman dancing shot already!!! I have no idea why I didn't find Metamia, it is a great resource.

I still am searching for a dark energy analogy, though. If all else fails, I could simply describe it in the video and have more of a focus on dark matter. After all, that is what we know more about.